EPITAPH FOR A LEGEND
Definitive Edition
length: 77:19
Ripped directly from the ORIGINAL edition of the vinyl LP,
then processed to remove vinyl artifacts.
This classic compilation of unreleased material from the vaults of the
International Artists label belongs in the collection of every serious
student of American music of the 20th century. First issued some 25
years ago as part of a boxed set of all the albums released by the label
in the 1960s, it was indeed the epitaph of a legend; a fine monument long
since fallen into disrepair.
There have been occasional reissues, all plagued by a progressive
deterioration in sound quality as the International Artists master tapes
were mismanaged, misplaced and misrepresented on vinyl and CD.
The sound quality on the "official" CD is so appalling (especially on the
Red Crayola tracks) that for many years the Collectables label has been
referred to by the fans as "Contemptables".
If they were even remotely concerned with value for money they would have
found a mint copy of the original LP, cleaned it up and issued that. They
might also have used one CD instead of two and charged accordingly.
They weren't, the proof of it being that they didn't. Once again it is
necessary for the fan community to rectify the situation, and charge nothing
at all. Here and now, this material is presented to its best advantage...
in our own time.
01. Chaynes - "Night Time" (2:57)
02. Patterns - "In My Own Time" (2:17)
03. Chapparrals - "I Tried So Hard" (2:50)
04. Thursday's Children - "A Part of You" (2:07)
05. Electric Rubayyat - "If I Were a Carpenter" (2:36)
06. Sonny Hall - "Poor Planet Earth" (2:05)
07. Inner Sense - "Communication Breakdown" (2:52)
08. The Red Krayola - "Hurricane Fighter Plane" (3:47)
09. The Red Krayola - "Pink Stainless Tail" (3:56)
10. The Red Krayola - "Nickle Niceness" (3:13)
11. The Red Krayola - "Vile Vile Grass" (2:18)
12. The Red Krayola - "Transparent Radiation" (2:49)
13. Emperors - "I Want My Woman" (2:39)
14. Lost & Found - "25 M.P.H." (2:00)
15. Big Walter - "Breakfast in Bed" (2:26)
16. Dave Allen - "C.C. Rider" (2:25)
17. Dave Allen - "Saturday A.M. Blues" (3:50)
18. Lightnin' Hopkins - "Conversation with Lightnin' Hopkins" (3:24)
19. Lightnin' Hopkins - "Black Ghost Blues" (3:34)
20. Roky Erickson - "Excerpts from Interview With Roky, KSAN-FM 4/1/78" (2:41)
21. Spades - "You're Gonna Miss Me" (3:20)
22. Spades - "We Sell Soul" (3:11)
23. Roky & Clementine Hall - "Splash 1" (3:05)
24. Roky & Clementine Hall - "Right Track Now" (3:02)
25. 13th Floor Elevators - "Wait for My Love" (3:24)
26. 13th Floor Elevators - "60-Second Radio Spot/Bull of the Woods" (1:02)
27. 13th Floor Elevators - "Fire Engine" (3:18)
28. mystery track - "78RPM" (0:09)
Trainspotters may note that the running times here are several seconds shorter
than on the commercial CD. That's the label's fault for using high-gen tapes,
dubbed on machines that had not been properly calibrated, and doing nothing
to correct for this. Consider the "Bull of the Woods" promo spot: on CD, it
is 66 seconds long. Being a radio ad, it could be expected to run exactly one
minute. It is 62 seconds long here, and the extra time is taken up by digital
silence inserted between tracks.
While this is not so much an album as a collection of leftovers from various
sessions, there's not a bad track to be found. (One wishes the blues material
might have been part of a separate collection perhaps, but it's all worthwhile.)
Some tracks are in stereo but most were mastered in mono. IA was not known for
its quality vinyl, but 99% of the ticks and pops have been elminated. These
songs have never sounded better.
"Communication Breakdown" is indeed the Led Zeppelin tune (done better here),
while The Three O'Clock's cover of "In My Own Time" was a highlight of their
debut album (and far better than their version of "Lucifer Sam".) Of course
Spacemen 3's transcendent cover of "Transparent Radiation" needs no
introduction, and there have been too many recordings of "You're Gonna Miss Me"
to mention here.
The "mystery track"? Despite persistent rumours within the fan community, our
research has established that this is NOT Roky's kid brother, Sumner Erickson.
We repeat, this is NOT the voice of Sumner Erickson. His voice would have been
unsuitable for the purpose, in that he had not even entered puberty when any of
this music was recorded. We have been attempting to verify that Sumner Erickson
might have emerged from puberty at some later date.
(Given the recorded evidence, rumours that "Sonny Hall" has any connection with
Tommy Hall are just silly.)